


Meet Me on the Other Side

by gholtripper



Category: Destiny (Video Games), Mass Effect - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-09-04
Packaged: 2019-06-18 00:55:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 18,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15473934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gholtripper/pseuds/gholtripper
Summary: When two worlds mess with powers they don't understand, they bring their own problems unto each other. Kleio-9 and Skythix were only trying to do their jobs and help people out until a rift was torn open. Now they must work together to save each other's world. (Constantly updating work)





	1. Meet Me on the Other Side Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello there! Thank you for giving my story a chance, I hope you like it. This is my first time creating a work to be posted online and my first time using AO3. Let me know if I make any mistakes somewhere that I could remedy. Enjoy the story!

_When two worlds mess with powers they don’t understand, they bring their own problems unto each other._

 

* * *

 

Chapter 1           

The final push was called only ten minutes ago but it felt like an eternity had passed her by. Two minutes suiting up, two minutes loading ammo and reserves, two minutes storing emergency supplies, two minutes reviewing the battle plan, and two minutes saddling up and heading off down the long, empty streets of Earth’s London to join the convoy of other heavy vehicles of war. Lieutenant Skythix Teratus sat quietly inside of an APC, looking down at her helmet that she had clutched between her fingers that was marred with scratches and dents from too much wear in such a short amount of time. She could see her reflection in her helmet of her tan colored plates and her blue and green colony markings tracing the lines of her tired face. The forty year old biotic veteran who stood a head over even a tall human, for the first time in her career, feared for her life. It was too much time to be thinking to herself. Scenarios flew through her mind of everything that could go wrong. So much already had that it was nearly impossible to see any upside. She glanced around at the other exhausted spirits inside of the vehicle who all looked entirely ready to throw in the towel. They were a medley of races attached to their own squad, a mixture of souls both too fatigued and terrified of what was to come. The only other two soldiers left in her Havoc squad were sitting next to her on both sides; Varima Xeratus on her left who was being uncharacteristically quiet while clutching her grenade launcher tightly and Aryus Orick on her right was tapping his foot constantly, staring at his omni-tool as a constant feed of information scrolled down the display. They lost their medic, Valus Thyren, upon entry of Earth’s atmosphere when their Kodiak crashed into a building infested with reaper forces. It was strange being surrounded by people not of her own race but all shared the common goal of fighting for survival. Every op she had ever been on had a plan, a goal, and an end point where they got to go home afterward. Now… Now it was difficult to even see the end. They were staring into the gaping maw of a beast unlike any of them had ever seen and it showed on everyone’s faces.

                Skythix nudged Varima with her elbow, startling Varima into turning her head towards Skythix.

“You still with us, Brig?” She said to her demolitionist. Skythix’s voice came out husky, her mouth feeling as dry as the flaming wreckage they were driving over.

“Yeah, I’m still here Ice.” Ice was Skythix’s codename for missions. “J-just a lot going through my mind.” Varima said, a small voice crack marring her usually peppy tone. Varima stood a similar height to Skythix with dark red colony markings that ran horizontally across her cheeks and forehead. She had been in the military for only five years before she was put into Skythix’s squad and for good reason. The woman knew how to handle explosives and enjoyed being in the front lines but was no short fuse herself. She was more akin to C4, extremely dangerous when handled properly while calm and collected when not in use, ready for the right hands to utilize her skills properly.

“You’re not the only one.” Skythix responded with placing a hand on her shoulder. Varima responded with a small nod before looking forward again at the wall of the vehicle. “Just make sure to get Sledge’s attention away from his omni-tool before we disembark.” Skythix said, thumbing over to Aryus. “He’ll be thinking about so many things at once I’m afraid he might overload and just stay seated.” She attempted to bring some humor to the somber blanket covering them all. Aryus was tall even for turians but he was much younger than Skythix was. His plates were a charcoal grey and he had black and white colony markings that weaved elegant lines across his face. Skilled at staying out of harm’s way and attacking from where the enemy least expects it, he was extremely useful as a frontline support soldier and their official ‘tech head’. Aryus looked up suddenly and did a double-take at Skythix.

                “You say my name?” Aryus asked, seemingly oblivious to his surroundings.

                Varima’s shoulders shook with a silent chuckle as Skythix shook her head. “See? It’s those omni-games rotting his brain.”

                “It’s not a game, Ice.” Aryus spat back, catching Skythix off guard. “It’s a list of our numbers and what we’re facing. I’m all for an uneven fight but this is suicide. They’re almost tripling our forces!”

                Skythix wanted to strike back at him. She saw the reports. She had seen the number of wounded overflowing field hospitals. None of it was easy to swallow and getting angry at him wasn’t going to make it any better. A few heads turned away from Aryus and scowled at his words, mostly likely ringing incessantly in their own heads already.

                “I know Aryus.” Skythix answered, keeping her voice low and even. “We all know.”

Aryus froze, realizing what he had just said. Perhaps it was Skythix saying his real name out loud that woke him up. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it, trying to find words but coming up blank. “Sorry, ma’am. I didn’t mean to lash out.” He said after a moment’s pause.

                “Don’t worry about it. We’re all on edge.” Skythix said, looking around at the other people in the APC who were looking at them. Some lowered their gaze while others continued to stare. “I just need your head in the game. Focus on what’s in front of us for now, alright? Leave the numbers and logistics for the officers because today we’re the vanguard and it’s our job to lead the cavalry.” Varima and Aryus both nodded.

                “We’re with you lieutenant” Varima said.

                A voice came over a speaker from the front end of the APC. “5 minutes to insertion people! Gear up and put your big boy pants on!” All heads lifted up at the voice and began checking their equipment. Skythix was the highest ranking person in their APC, even amongst the various races’ militaries so she released her harness, placed her helmet on her seat, and stood up to grab on to a bar above her as all eyes fell on her. For once in her life she was at a loss for words. She’d always found it simple to rouse her troops into a concentrated frenzy, rallying everyone towards a goal no matter how challenging. Even difficult times when she had to deliver bad news to a loved one who lost a little bit of light in their eye when they heard, she always managed to say something comforting. This was different. Every soldier in this confined space looked at her with forlorn faces as if they’d given up already. How could she blame them? Some of these humans had been on Earth fighting the reapers since they first arrived while their spirits were being beaten down relentlessly. Even some asari who’d already seen their home planet be glassed were already despondent. They witnessed horrors worse than most could imagine while their home world was being covered in fire. Even now, her own home world was under siege and she wanted nothing more to be there helping but she knew the importance of this mission. She paused, looking at the eyes of each hardened soldier who now had to give everything they had or they, and everyone else to come, would be lost.

                “How do you fight an enemy who feels no pain? An enemy who doesn’t care about the ground that they raze in their wake? Their one and only goal is to see you take your last breath and steal everything you and your kind have ever made to see it burn.” A few of the people in the APC began to frown at her. “Even when you feel like you’re outmatched or outgunned, remember that you have something that the reapers can never dream to have; hope. They have nothing to come home to like we do. They don’t care about the soldier’s bond that we’ve all built together. They couldn’t care less if the monster next to them went down, they’ll just keep coming at us. They’re mindless war machines that fight with numbers while we have a strength that they can never wish to match and overcome. Their entire existence is built on repurposing and exterminating, cleansing everything in their path and it is in that narrow-minded weakness that we will exploit them. When an enemy is hell-bent on doing one thing, you can learn to predict them and that’s exactly what we’re going to do.” Most of the frowning faces were beginning to turn more determined. Both Varima and Aryus were staring at Skythix with intent. They’d heard her make a few invigorating speeches before but nothing compared to what they were seeing now.

                “How do you fight an enemy who feels no fear? No remorse?” Skythix galvanized, raising her voice even louder. “You fight with all your heart! Nothing can outmatch our combined power because at the end of all of this it’s going to be either us or them and I will fight until I’ve fired my last bullet, until my hands and feet are broken and bloody, and until they understand that we are not to be trifled with; this I swear to you!” Gloomy expressions were beginning to transform into the determination they were going to need to win. “We will cross battlefield to battlefield, city to city, and we will show them what it means to fight to the last! It is with your rifle and your spirit that we will succeed!” She shouted, thrusting her rifle as high as she could inside the APC. Everyone else did the same, exclaiming their cheers at her words.

                “30 seconds!” Came the voice over the speaker again. Skythix let everyone’s cheers die down as the call to action came.

                “Today, we fight for the lost.” Skythix said, leveling her voice out. She could feel the APC coming to a halt and she waited for it to stop completely before slamming a fist on the door release button. All the harnesses in the vehicle lifted as Skythix grabbed her helmet and disembarked out of the ramp that was made from the door with her M-76 Revenant over her shoulder. Gun fire could be heard in the air along with a sinister wind that carried the smell of ash and death. Between plumes of smoke in the distance, the standing behemoths that were the reaper ships could be seen laying waste to everything in front of them. Skythix steeled herself and placed her helmet on top of her head, snapping it into place with a hiss from the suit connecting the internal life support systems. Her HUD blinked to life in front of her eyes, dulling the already depressing surroundings as everyone pilled out of the APC. Varima loaded her M-100 grenade launcher and phaeston rifle while Aryus did the same to his m-11 suppressor and Krysae rifle while each secured their helmets immediately after.

                “You two ready?” Skythix asked her squad.

                “After hearing that? You bet your ass! We’re with you Ice!” Varima exclaimed through their helmet radios.

                “I’m ready to go.” Aryus said coldly. “Nothing’s gonna stop us.”

                Skythix looked at both of them and nodded before facing forward, motioning a ‘move out’ gesture with her hand.

“Everyone get your things and move because we’re not coming back” Skythix called out to all the soldiers. “It’s time to make good on our promises. Spirits be with us all.”

 


	2. Meet Me on the Other Side Chapter 2

Chapter 2

“Remind me why I’m here again Sloan?” Kleio-9 asked over her radio.

Kleio was sitting on her sparrow in front of the entrance to the New Pacific Arcology. Strapped in her Bindcaster I armor and her Zhalo Supercell slung over her back, she glanced around at the entrance that was defiled with hive creep as if trying to find the answer herself.

                Sloan cleared her throat on the other end and the sound of shifting paper and metallic objects could be heard. “The increase in hive activity after the strike against Savathûn's Song is way too high for the blow that fireteam dealt. We need someone to go in there and investigate. It’s only been a week so there’s no reason they should have this many numbers.”

                “How far into the Arcology do I need to go?” Kleio asked as she slowly proceeded her sparrow inside of the giant complex. The familiar surroundings of light peeking through the darkness that the hive left behind always left an eerie dread in the air. She hadn’t been down too far into the complex herself, mostly just the top levels to help keep down the hive and fallen populations.

                “Deep. I’m talking further than we even have maps to. It seems like it goes below the liquid methane seas but our scanners aren’t reliable at that much depth and hazardous conditions.”

                Ada, Kleio’s ghost, materialized next to her while she rode her sparrow into the entry way. “Why are you sending just us inside?” Ada asked. “This seems like something that’s better off for a rather sizeable fireteam.” Ada and Kleio glanced at each other. She could hear the concern in Ada’s voice. It mirrored her own reservations about this.

                “This is just a recon mission. If we send tons of people inside and our scans turn out to be correct?” Sloan paused. “No, we don’t have enough information to deploy the troops yet and I’m not sacrificing good guardians to some possible unknown.”

                “But perfectly okay with sending just _us_ to our deaths.” Kleio responded flatly.

                “That’s _why_ it’s just you. One person can get in and get out without being noticed. Besides, you’ve been doing this kind of thing for years for Ikora, haven’t you?” Sloan’s tone hid some amount of secret knowledge that she was taunting Kleio with. She stopped her sparrow and glared at the wall in front of her, trying to will her indignation to be felt by Sloan from far away.

                “I’ve been working for the vanguard for a long time.” Kleio said with a similar intonation but with much more irritation. Sloan wasn’t supposed to know about her dealings with Ikora’s group, the Hidden.

                Sloan simply huffed in response. “I’m sending you coordinates to get you as far in as I can. You’ll have to take it from there on your own. Keep in touch, Sloan out.”

                Kleio turned off the radio without a word and got off her sparrow, allowing Ada to transmat it away. “I still think a hunter would have been better for this, at least to accompany me.” Kleio said as she unslung her Zhalo and held it casually in her hands as she walked down the empty hallways. Kleio is six foot tall with a gun-metal gray chassis, red glowing eyes and inner core, a white arch painted on her face that goes from cheek to cheek, and two antennas pointed diagonally up where her ears would be.

                “You’ve always got me to help!” Ada exclaimed happily, bouncing around Kleio in the air. She couldn’t help but smirk, chuckling softly.

                “Yes, yes, I know. You’ve always been there for me Ada. Sloan just loves to get on my nerves.”

                “It _was_ a little weird that she sent us on this mission.”

                Kleio raised a brow behind her helmet and looked over at Ada near her right shoulder. “What makes you say that? Other than the obvious death trap we’re likely walking into… Or not! I hate low intel gigs…”

                “See, that’s just it. It’s low intel because there _isn’t_ any.” Ada said as she flew slightly in front of Kleio while they walked to the solarium.

                “You’re not making any sense, Ada.”

                “I got curious after Sloan mentioned not having good scans of the deeper sections of the Arcology and decided to check the Vanguard mission records to see them for myself. Problem is, there isn’t one.”

                Kleio stopped and furrowed her brow at Ada. She took that as her cue to continue. “Either someone screwed up the paperwork or this is an unsanctioned operation.”

                “What?” Kleio said, perplexed. “Why the hell is Sloan sending us down here then?”

                “Your guess is as good as mine.” Ada shifted her frame in a confused manner. “But she’s definitely right. I’m getting readings of _tons_ of hive signatures the more we walk in. We need to be careful.”

                The Solarium was just in front of them, entering the door way that lead to the gigantic open area that separated the different areas of the Arcology. The directions that Sloan gave her were almost direct tracks that lead to the depths towards Savathûn's Song. That would mean they would likely encounter a lot of this hive resistance on the way down. Except there wasn’t any. The enormous area that acted as a crossroads to the different areas was usually teeming with activity from either the fallen or the hive but there wasn’t a soul around them. Kleio crept in slowly, checking every corner she could see while Ada hovered around her, checking the areas she wasn’t looking.

                “You hear it too, don’t you.” Ada stated.

                “Silence.” Kleio said back. She quickly became tense and put the wall to her back. “Stay close to me, Ada. Regardless of Sloan’s reasons I want to find out what’s going on for myself.”

“You don’t have to tell me twice.” Ada muttered while basically sitting on her shoulder now. Ada wasn’t easy to scare which just made Kleio more nervous. The further into the Arcology they went, they could see signs of devastating battles involving guardians. Giant craters where nova bombs were dropped, smaller craters but jagged scorch marks indicative of only a titan’s strength, and bullet holes littering every wall, ceiling, and floor that they went down. Even with all this left over chaos, there were no hive to be found. They both agreed to stay silent as they moved further in, not wanting to take any chances of getting ambushed. They even passed broken crystals that left a residual feeling of light when she got close to them. _These must be those crystals the hive used to capture guardian light_ , she thought to herself. Even Ada had her eye glued to them every time they walked passed one. _Ghosts are sensitive to feeling the Traveler’s light. This must be terrible for her to see._

                They eventually came across the remains of the last strike team to come down here. The area was scorched, burned, and blistered from both hive and guardian alike… but no signs of life. Pieces of the supposed giant shrieker weren’t here, no hive bodies, no scattered weapons, nothing.

                “Looks like the hive have cleaned up their messes for once.” Ada joked, finally floating away to investigate for herself once they entered the empty chamber.

                “This is where Sloan’s directions end, too.” Kleio remarked, peering inside of the small caves that littered the giant room to see if they went anywhere. “See anything?”

                “Just this giant pit.”

                Kleio sauntered over to the edge of the large room where Ada was looking down. “I’m getting strong readings down here but I can’t see anything, it’s too dark.”  
                “I have a feeling that’s _why_ it’s so dark. Remember the dreadnaught?”

                “How could I forget?” Their time spent on the dreadnaught, while not as long as some guardians, was enough to see the horrors it held.

                “What do you think we should do?” Ada asked.

                Kleio looked around the edge of the barren cliff. She had a horrible feeling of dread just looking down the cliff into the bowls of the rest of the Arcology. “What else can we do?” She responded wryly, taking a step back while still looking over the edge.

                Ada did a double take between Kleio and the edge. “Whoa no no no. You are not jumping down there!” Ada protested but Kleio had already begun her run and leaped over the edge. “Kleio, no!” She shouted, following her guardian down the pit.

 


	3. Meet Me on the Other Side Chapter 3

Chapter 3

                “COVERING FIRE!” Shouted a human on the opposite side of the street from where Skythix and her squad were awaiting the signal. They were attempting to push past a bridge that the reaper forces were holding and needed to get their armor across. However, they were ambushed just before meeting the bridge’s entrance, taking heavy fire which crippled their ranks. A wide river that flowed beneath it with tall buildings at all corners made this the only way through without a major detour. Soldiers that popped up to begin firing were immediately put down in a hail of bullets but gave enough of a distraction for Skythix and her team to jump jet forward.

                “For Palaven!” Varima shouted, raining grenades down on an embankment of marauders from up high. Aryus vanished when the call was made, engaging his tactical cloak and sneaking around the side of the fortifications. Skythix biotic charged into the front lines with a primal roar as she barreled into the leftovers from Varima’s sweeping explosions. Cannibal bodies were flung backwards towards the water where Aryus was in wait, grabbing them as they hit the water, plunging a knife into their throats. Further enemies who turned around to acknowledge Aryus’ tactics were dispatched with quick shots from his m-11 suppressor. The other soldiers were spurred on by her team’s courage and jumped out to storm the bridge’s main cover set up by the reapers. Varima landed near where Aryus was, shouldered her grenade launcher, and drew her phaeston rifle to push forward towards where Skythix, firing at the left over marauders.

                It was a quick cleanup after Skythix’s squad broke through their ranks. Skythix finished off the last enemy with a stomp of her boot to a cannibal’s head, silencing its terrible shrieks. “Sit rep!” Skythix shouted.

                “We’re good here, Ice!” Varima called back, refreshing the thermal click in her rifle.

                “Nothing broken.” Aryus said, catching up to Skythix along with Varima. Skythix looked back at the platoon of soldiers that were behind her. A human male corporal ran up to her to relay information of his own.

                “We have twenty-three casualties, ma’am, hardly half of our forces are still in fighting shape.” The man reported. “Our front mako tank was hit hard and can’t run and only one good APC. The other one works but it lost a lot of its side armor. You couldn’t pay anybody to sit in that.”

                Skythix removed her helmet to survey around her and frowned at all the corpses, both reaper and not. Fuck, she was not expecting their forces to be pushed out this far but she supposed the bridge was too important for them to give up. They had a lot less strength than she was hoping for to join up with Commander Shepard and her crew.

                “Use the broken APC to transport injured back to the checkpoint and have who we can get in what is left. We can’t afford to turn back.” Skythix said, eyes darting back and forth between what her options could possibly be. The corporal saluted quickly and turned around, barking his own orders to collect the wounded.

                “You sure about this, Ice?” Varima asked. “Shouldn’t we try and meet up with another platoon to combine our strength?”

                Skythix shook her head. “I wish we could but we have a strict deadline to meet at that beam of light.” She pointed her finger in the distance past the bridge where a solid beam of bright light was shining down from the Citadel that floated above them. She forced determination in her voice. “We will push on. Everyone form up on me! Those who can walk will be watch for the vehicle!” She shouted before heading for the bridge. “Brig, you’re on point with me. Sledge, I want you to scout ahead to check for any ambushes. Let’s clear a path for everyone else.”

                “Yes, ma’am.” Aryus saluted before running ahead towards the bridge, activating his cloak as he passed the wrecked mako. After getting the wounded packed into the damaged vehicle, some soldiers filled the last APC while the rest created a perimeter around it and marched along. Skythix and Varima walked in front with their guns drawn, ready to fire upon any enemy that came their way.

                The venture forward was short but arduous as the reduced platoon encountered scores of enemies coming out of buildings and plain rushing forward straight at them. Skythix started to regret trying to rally her troops with hope as their weapon considering their enemy was using their greatest weakness against them; no fear of death. The closer they came to the beam of light, the greater the carnage all around them and the more troops they lost. Other than Skythix’s squad, only six more soldiers remained. It was all beginning to become much too intense for them to handle. Aryus had taken a big hit by a brute but denied that he was injured. Varima was beyond exhausted from her encounter with a banshee but refused to quit. They all defied the impossible every fight they got into and surpassed that limit on every new battlefield. The end was always in sight but always seemed too far away.

                “We’re almost there.” Skythix said over her radio to the rest of her platoon. After three hours of intense, non-stop fighting, they were reduced to only Skythix’s squad, an asari huntress named Lishari and a human marine named Elias, and none of their armor. They began to round a street corner that was to be their final push to a large clearing where the bright beam was located. As they rounded the corner, their target finally came in sight. The entire city block opened up as if a nuclear explosion had gone off with rubble and destruction for at least a mile around. What was left were odd alien structures surrounding the bright pillar of light and a horde of reapers surrounding it. The squad could see a massive amount of fighting far in the distance. _That must be Shepard’s team._ They didn’t have much time. They needed to get across this wasteland and join the commander’s squad but they had a lot to fight through to get there.

                Just before they ventured out into their last push, Skythix motioned for everyone to form up around her. “This is it everyone. All we have to do now is help get Commander Shepard onto the Citadel so she can activate the Crucible. We’ve made it this far and we’re so close to finishing off these reaper assholes once and for all. I’m more than proud to call all of you soldiers and I’ll be even more to call you heroes.” Skythix looked up at the giant death machines as they rained hell down on the location where Shepard was supposed to be. “We can take advantage of our size to avoid the reaper’s direct fire while we take down the smaller ground forces. All we have to do is evade them long enough to get in close and hit them hard to allow the Commander her window to get through.” Everyone nodded to her with confidence.

                “We’re behind you, lieutenant.” Varima said. “We’re gonna take as many of those fuckers with us as we can.”

                “Oorah” the human responded to that.

                “Here we go.” Skythix motioned for them all to follow. “Stay close to me and we’ll move around the left.”

                The road in front of them dropped down five feet into rubble that was difficult to navigate but the dips and turns allowed defilade even in the open. Their movements were mostly masked by the sounds of gunfire and explosions with the occasional reaper horn that ripped through the air and made their bodies shiver. The squad picked off several lone enemies with quick shots but they’d eventually come upon the area where the fighting was at its heaviest. Now, Shepard’s team was actually within sight across the other side of a large chasm that blocked them from getting directly to her. Skythix’s team could jump jet over but then they’d be leaving their other two behind. She decided to make do with what she had.

                She opened up a public channel on her radio and shouted out to the darkened skies. “Your reckoning has arrived, reapers!” Seemingly every head turned towards her, including Shepard herself. “Know that today is the day the cycle breaks with your demise! Not ours!” Their team was instantly fired upon as they ducked for cover from the immediate fire.

                “Did you really need to taunt them like that, Ice?!” Aryus shouted in annoyance, poking his head up and down to take shots at cannibals and husks that started charging them.

                “Well, we are the distraction team after all!” The asari answered back, slinging a biotic throw onto a husk that bowled over two others.

                “Time to be distracting!” Skythix called out as she stood up and threw her arms out, projecting a biotic shield around her troops. “Come on! I can move us closer!”

                Everyone stood up at once with their guns up, firing at anything in sight. Skythix walked the blue orb engulfing her and everyone else to the left where bits of a fallen building would give them higher ground to cause more damage. Enemy forces were using the same cover to fire at Shepard’s squad but were now shooting relentlessly at Skythix’s bubble. Bullets pinged off the outside of the biotic shield while still allowing bullets to be fired out. With only fifty feet to their destination, Skythix lowered the shield she had raised but channeled the energy into her arms and jump-jetted forward. With a savage cry, she crashed down on top of two marauders, flattening them and releasing the stored biotic energy outwards, sending every enemy flying into walls and off the platform. Varima and Lishari joined her up top quickly with Aryus carrying Elias via his jump jets. He gave his thanks and entrenched himself, firing down at the backs of marauders who previously thought were protected by their own team. This was the perfect diversion that Shepard’s team needed to quickly cut down forces and push forward, moving from cover to cover faster than Skythix had ever seen. A reaper roar pierced the sky as one of the biggest reapers that Skythix had ever seen landed nearby, staring straight at their new position. Everyone looked horrified as they stared the reaper down only a few hundred feet away from them. Its laser began to charge with her team right in its crosshairs but Skythix was too stunned to do anything.

                “Move! Move!” Varima shouted at the top of her lungs as blinding death began to engulf their vision.


	4. Meet Me on the Other Side Chapter 4

Chapter 4

                With a light gust of air, Kleio-9 touched down on what seemed like a one-hundred foot fall. It was pitch black all around her and looking up showed only a hint of light from where they came from.

                “I hope that wasn’t the only way in.” Kleio muttered to herself.

                “My sensors are going crazy down here! I’m surprised we’re not surrounded by hive right now!” Ada said in a harsh whisper, spinning around to try and find something she couldn’t find. Kleio could faintly see her with her exo vision but only because she was so close to her.

                “Using light down here might not work in our favor.” Kleio turned on her helmet’s night vision but even that hardly gave outlines near her person. “Shit, we might not have a choice the further we get in. Let’s hope the hive don’t _actually_ live in the darkness.”

                “The hive are nothing _but_ darkness.” Ada responded with ire. Kleio began walking along the edge of the Arcology complex building with her hand placed on it to aid in her in walking.

                “Stay focused, Ada. I need you now more than ever.” If she didn’t know any better, Kleio would have thought she had stepped into the very darkness itself. The one that claws at the mind in the far reaches of the void, a permeating cold that would terrify even the most seasoned veteran.

                The ground spiraled downward the further Kleio walked, making the small light even from the area above her begin to slowly fade away. She walked for a few more minutes in complete silence until a faint glow appeared around what seemed like a hole in a wall. Kleio stopped by it and peered inside of it, revealing a gigantic cistern with soft glowing crystals that lined the walls, ceiling, and floor that were similar to the ones that the pair passed on their way down but still intact. The room was surrounded by a pool of liquid methane from the outside that created an eerie blue glow around the chamber. The worst part about it all were the hive dotting every inch of the room. Thralls, acolytes, knights, wizards, ogres, every different type of hive that Kleio had ever seen were filling this room to the brim. A rhythmic, hypnotic humming sound came from inside the room that Kleio could only assume was chanting. She had to stop herself when she realized she had stared agape into the hole for so long that she stopped looking around herself.

                She peeled away from the view, her heart pounding in her throat as her mind raced. _What should she do? Should she try to radio for help? Would her radio even work all the way down here? Had she been seen yet?_ She was startled suddenly by Ada bumping her silently, her eye piece blinking rapidly at her in silent communication as if to say, _we need to leave!_ Kleio couldn’t explain why but she wanted to venture further down to get a better look. Using the dim light from the hole, the exo shook her head at Kleio and pointed down the steps and continued walking before Ada could protest. Her entire body was tense, making it difficult to step as quietly as possible. Near the bottom of the steps, they opened up in two directions; one went left towards the large open room where the dim blue light came from and another smaller tunnel that forked off to the right at about chest height. They looked like something the thralls would come crawling out of. Maybe it was networked together that could lead her to another vantage point? She looked over her shoulder at the other direction to the open room before deciding to try her hand at the tunnels. _No way am I walking anywhere near there._

                She crouched down as far as she could and moved slowly through the claustrophobic tunnel. Just stepping inside made her feel queasy, like a force was pressing in from all around her. She’d been in the darkness before but nothing had ever felt quite as strong as now as having it surround you like a heavy blanket. Small trills could be heard inside the tunnels, likely thralls communicating with each other as they scurried about. That would mean that not all of their forces were in that giant chamber. She proceeded cautiously as the tunnel twisted and turned chaotically, using only her hands to feel around where she was. Kleio could feel Ada perched on her shoulder, all of her external lights turned off and what she imagined was her… trembling? She placed a hand against Ada’s shell to try and help comfort the ghost. It seemed to quell her slightly as the shaking subsided.

                Kleio froze as a sudden, shrill cry could be heard from further inside of the tunnel. She stared wide eyed into the darkness. Her imagination played out fifty different scenarios in her head but they all vanished when she started hearing scratching and scuffling that was getting louder. Something was headed straight towards her. She couldn’t rely on a weapon barring the sound giving her away. She inched forward as slowly as she could, gathering energy into her hands. Her breathing stopped, halting just before a turn in the tunnel as the scratching sounded like it was nearly upon her. The head of a thrall jolted out in front of her, clearly not expecting something to be blocking its path. It began to sound a sharp screech but before it could get anything out, Kleio reached out and grabbed its head, cupping its mouth as well. Void energies surged out like tentacles, devouring the thrall in void energies until it completely vanished from existence. Kleio let out a long sigh after she realized she was holding her breath, allowing the void energy surge to wash over her. Even down here in the darkness, the void was a familiar comfort to her. She dropped her palms to the ground as she regained her senses, shaking her head rapidly before continuing on at a more hurried pace. She didn’t want to be caught in the tunnels if another thrall came through, or worse, someone actually heard her.

                After another minute of creeping through the tunnel, Kleio came out in an area that looked like some kind of odd storage that was dimly lit by orange, glass-like veins that etched around the room. It was filled with giant pale crystals that usually held the void light but these appeared clear and empty. She couldn’t feel anything when she laid a hand on top of one. Around her rested what looked like odd crates amongst other things she couldn’t identify. Thankfully, no one else seemed to be around. She sincerely nobody in the hive cared about a single thrall to come looking for it when it doesn’t come back from whatever mission it was on. The door out seemed to be sealed with hive runes and an unknown destination behind it. She could still hear a soft chanting through the walls in the silence, meaning she didn’t stray too far from the main area.

                “It’s good to see you, Kleio.” A voice suddenly came from the shadowed corner. Kleio instinctively grabbed her Zhalo and whipped around, aiming at the direction of the voice. Out of the shadows, three glowing green orbs drifted forward culminating into the shape of a robed humanoid. Kleio’s eyes went wide and lowered her gun. “Eris!” Kleio gasped, taking her helmet off. Ada spun around in the air, her lens contracting and opening repeatedly in shock. “What are you doing here?” exclaimed Ada.

                “I am the silent vigil against the hive.” She said, stopping in front of the exo. Kleio wanted to jump up and hug her but she knew how much she hated it. “I regret that it was you who Ikora chose.”

                Ada blinked twice. “Wait, what do you mean?”

                “I requested Ikora send me one of her hidden, knowing that they would not return.” Her words were quick and succinct.

                Ada froze. “What do you mean ‘not return’?”

                “You expect to die down here.” Kleio filled in with dread.

                “Hang on, that means that Ikora knew you were alive.” Kleio interrupted herself. “Eris, everyone thought you were dead already! What happened to you after the Red Legion attacked the tower?”

                “I was not there when the cabal attacked. I was far away, beyond communication sans a few individuals who knew.” Eris clasped her hands in front of her, ending her words without explanation. It irritated Kleio that she did not elaborate on her words. She always knew Eris to be rather cryptic but she had so many questions.

                “Eris…” Kleio whimpered, reaching out a hand to the shrouded woman.

                Eris raised her palm up, blocking Kleio’s advances. “We don’t have time, Kleio. The ritual outside must be disrupted or our solar system will face another hive god. One that I fear to be worse than Oryx.”

                Kleio was saddened that she finally ran into her friend but was already scared to lose her again. It didn’t help that Eris just dropped this damning revelation on her suddenly.

                “We’re here for you, Eris.” Ada responded, glancing over at Kleio when she didn’t respond immediately. “Just tell us what to do.”

                “Follow me.” Eris motioned to a wall where she waved a darkened hand to reveal hive locks that were hidden. “I will need you to create a diversion for me. I cannot fight like I used to but I know how to interrupt the summoning.” She clenched a fist over the locks as her eyes glowed a sickly green just as the hive locks shattered and fell to the ground. _Leave it to Eris to know the ins and outs of anything hive_ , Kleio thought to herself.

                “You want me to wreak havoc in that room filled with hive.” Kleio stated matter of factly.

                “Precisely.” Eris said, pressing against the wall that was previously locked, revealing a hidden crease that swung the wall open to reveal a dark hallway.

                “Have you seen that room?!” Ada nearly shouted out. “There must have been hundreds of hive all clustered in there!”

                “They’re all sacrifices to be made. Any that you can reduce can potentially halt their advancement.”

                “And what will you be doing?” Kleio asked as the three started walking slowly into the darkness.

                “Absorbing the void energies in the crystals. They’ve been amassing them here for a long time but I had no idea of their intentions until recently.”

                “If this is such a big problem, why didn’t you tell Zavala to send a force down here to stop it?” Eris asked.

                “They would halt the ritual if they knew they would be found out. I needed to sabotage it in the act.” The longer they walked, the louder the chanting grew around them. It was giving Kleio chills hearing the horrible hive dialect. “Besides, Zavala is already weary of me. He believed me to be… unbalanced when I warned him there was still danger after Oryx was defeated.”

                “This is bad, Eris. I don’t think we’re enough to stop them!” Kleio pleaded in a harsh whisper.

                “Ikora even began to doubt me.” Eris admitted, seemingly ignoring Kleio. “She was the only one I trusted after I had left… Even she only granted me you as one small favor.” Eris looked at Kleio over her shoulder, only those dark emerald eyes looking at her. It disturbed her greatly, both that her friend was fighting all of this alone and that even the ones she thought she could trust were doubting the only person who was making sense about the hive.

                Kleio hesitated. “I believe you, my friend. Even if I hadn’t seen the army of hive outside, I still would have heard you out.”

                Eris did not respond immediately. “Thank you, Kleio…” Her voice sounded forlorn. “You were always a good companion to me, even before Hellmouth.”

                Kleio and Ada both looked at each other with downcast looks. Eris’ usual downtrodden voice sounded even more despairing. Maybe this was how she felt all the time? Kleio’s chest ached for her.

                “We are here.” Eris whispered, placing a hand against a section-offed wall in the darkened hallway. Kleio reached her own hand out and placed it on Eris’ shoulder.

“We’re making it out alive, Eris. I promise you that. Do not give yourself up already.” Eris did not respond but Kleio thought she caught a ghost of a grin on her face.

“Prepare yourself Kleio, Ada.” The wall started to glow green as hive runes appeared, cracking under her invisible force. “We alone stand against a great evil from returning to this world.” The final rune lock broke, the wall swinging open to reveal the blue light of the cistern. All of the hive were facing away from them but they quickly noticed their intrusion and started to turn towards them.

                “Let your light shine through their darkness.” Eris said as she took a hand cannon out from her robes and dashed off to the side where a stash of crystals were laid out. Kleio clicked her helmet back on, raising her Zhalo up, and flicking the safety off. Electricity crackled all around her as she walked slowly into the chamber. The once quiet chamber erupted in roars that promised pain and suffering followed by bullets flying from her gun at every target she could see.


	5. Meet Me on the Other Side Chapter 5

Chapter 5

                A soft rumbling of the earth disturbed Skythix from her forced nap. Ringing in her ears disoriented her as she slowly opened her eyes to darkness. For a moment, the battlefield was a distance memory but a heavy presence on her person brought her back to reality. That, and the inability to move her legs made her panic. She was buried under something and she didn’t know how to get out. Skythix attempted to move any part of her and was quickly reminded of the throbbing head wound that knocked her out. She thrashed against her rocky tomb but it only barely moved against her weak movements. She was so exhausted and whatever was on top of her back was forcing her to take short, shallow breaths. She counted them, one… two… three… four… She couldn’t calm herself down. She failed her mission and she would die here knowing that the reapers would continue decimating this world and the next…

                “Skythix!” came a call which sounded far away. She barely registered the voice but she could hear her name. She opened her mouth to respond but barely a puff of air escaped her maw. Her heart was pounding in her ears and her breathing accelerated. _Save me. I’m right here!_ She screamed in her head, too drained to move at all.

                What felt like an eternity later, she could feel something moving on top of her but she was still trapped underneath the rubble.

                “Skythix! Ice! Answer me!” The voice was distinctly male now. _Aryus? Did he survive?_ The faintest gasp of air escaped her mouth but a force above her moved the rocks more against her back, pushing the remaining air she had out of her lungs. She struggled just to keep breathing until light began to break through the rubble and she felt something touch her shoulder.

                “Skythix!” Aryus shouted out, fear and pain in his voice. “Skythix, please speak to me!” He clawed desperately at the rubble, yanking it away from his comrade as fast as he could. Inch by inch, Aryus moved enough rocks that Skythix sucked in a long, harsh breath as she was finally able to fully fill her lungs with precious oxygen. Aryus reached down and pulled Skythix up from under her arms, dragging her out until she laid barely motionless in front of him. Skythix wanted to scream out so many things but she was much too weak. Aryus gently let her down as he pulled out a medical pack, placing medigel where her suit had ruptured open exposing wounds. Her helmet was broken where her crest stuck out, meaning she couldn’t remove her helmet completely without causing agonizing pain. The faceplate was also broken in the upper left corner exposing her eye to the outside. Her left arm was broken at the forearm, leaving it useless. The rest of her had severe trauma and assorted broken bones. She was most certainly out of commission.

                “Skythix speak to me.” Aryus begged, removing his helmet so he could slather medigel anywhere he could. He wasn’t a trained medic, his desperation showed in his shaking hands and desire to place the healing salve anywhere he could.

                “V-Varima…” Skythix gasped out silently.

                “What?”

                “Where… is she…?”

                Aryus whipped around to where he left Varima’s unmoving body not too far away. “She’s fine. S-She’s helping Lishari.” He lied. Truthfully, he had no idea where the asari or the human were that were left in their squad. Skythix attempted to speak further but she couldn’t bring herself to.

                The ground shook as a nearby reaper walked across the ground but didn’t see them immediately. Aryus looked up to see the hulking death machine before quickly reaching down to pick up Skythix and pull her body to a short wall where they could hide. Skythix couldn’t turn her head enough to see but she knew what it was. She wouldn’t dare try to speak even if she were really able to. The steps grew louder as more joined them. Other reaper ground forces began to charge past them towards the beam of light. Aryus held his breath for fear of being found. After a few moments of palpable fear, the sound died down to only gun fire in the distance. Aryus dared to look over their cover to see Varima still lying down on the ground. He needed to get over to her but was worried about Skythix. Before Skythix could argue, he jumped up and ran out of their cover to dash for his comrade.

                The moment Aryus reached Varima, he attempted to pick her up as a deep roar came out from behind him. A brute had hung back from the group and was now meeting Aryus eye to eye a hundred feet away. He froze, torn between reaching down and trying to run with Varima or trying to fight him head-on. Both ways risked his squad mate’s life, leaving Skythix helpless if something happened to him. Before he could decide, the brute charged him, stampeding forward with death in its gaze. He took a step to the side to at least get him away from Varima. Three shots rang out in succession, smacking the side of the brute and causing it to skid to a halt to find its new aggressor. Even Aryus was shocked and turned his head to the side to see Skythix leaning over the half wall, weakly holding up her Carnifex pistol. Even in her weakened state she managed to fire her gun with her only good arm. The brute roared at Skythix and turned to run after her next. Aryus quickly primed his omni-tool to fire off an electric shock and pointed it at the brute. However, the quick electric shock wasn’t enough to stop it as it barreled into the Skythix’s cover. Skythix was tossed to the side with a shower of rubble as she let out a shriek of pain. Aryus ran after the brute with his M-11 Suppressor drawn, firing as much as his thermal clip could take. The reaper tank attempted to cover itself with its hulking arm from the hail of bullets until it reached down to pick up a large piece of rock, beaming it at Aryus square in his chest. Aryus was swiftly knocked off his feet with a loud grunt, landing himself next to Varima. Her body stirred gently, her head rolling to the side to look at Aryus through her helmet.

                “A-… Aryus…?” She asked meekly.

                Aryus’ eyes slowly closed as his consciousness faded away.

                Where Skythix fell, the brute loomed over her, examining the prey that was before it. Skythix’s breathing grew faster and faster as it approached, trying to will her body to move but unable to. _This is it,_ she thought to herself.

                Just as the brute brought its giant arm up to lay the final blow, a blinding light shined from the sky. It pulsated green, red, and blue colors as the sphere of light expanded out from the sky. Even the brute halted in its attack to turn its head and look up. Light reflected off of every surface as the world in front of Skythix was quickly devoured in a brilliant rainbow of colors. Skythix resigned herself to dead, imagining this as the spirits coming to take her away. She shut her eyes and accepted her fate.

 


	6. Meet Me on the Other Side Chapter 6

Chapter 6

                Ogre laser’s followed Kleio wherever she went as she strafed around the room, firing her Zhalo Supercell into the large crowd of thralls that attempted to rush her. Thankfully, the room was so large that even at this range the wizards and the ogre’s long range attacks were easy to dodge. Lightning jumped and scattered between her targets like a beautiful dance, crackling and striking as it pleased. Eris had managed to absorb many void crystals into her person but it was clear that without her light she wasn’t as strong as she used to be as every crystal she came across left her looking more and more drawn. Void energy itself was empowering to someone like Kleio but since Eris was no longer a guardian, it was likely only damaging her. Kleio knew she needed to work as fast as she could in killing as many hive as possible.

                An ear piercing screech echoed through the chamber enough to break her concentration, allowing a quick barrage of wizards and ogre’s attacks to hit her and taking her shield down in the process. Kleio jumped out of the way to try and avoid further fire towards the edge of the circular room. A small slip of her foot nearly plunged her into the methane sea around it, a reminder of the other dangers surrounding her. _What was that horrible sound?_ She thought to herself. She swiveled her head to try and find Eris but she wasn’t within sight. She decided to run around the sides of the room to try and locate her friend.

                “Can you see Eris, Ada?” Kleio called out while she reloaded her gun.

                “No! I can’t!” Ada answered in a panic. “Maybe she snuck around the other side of this mob?”

                She didn’t want to think about how she was possibly going to get through this crowd in one piece.

                “We’re just going to have to assume she’s alright.”

                A line of acolytes approached Kleio firing wildly with sonorous growls. That would have been the least of her worries until a group of four large knights stampeded through the line, trampling their own, just to charge at Kleio. They all brandished swords and shields, shaking the ground as they raised their weapons for a devastating strike. In one swift motion, Kleio shouldered her Zhalo, spun around gracefully to avoid fire, and thrust her palms down to create a shockwave of electricity that rolled through the air around her. The knights were launched off their feet with a thunderous explosion into the wall of acolytes they previously stomped over. She had unleashed the storm surging inside of her as electricity crackled from all over her body, connecting chaotically to the ground beneath her that she now floated over. She took a deep breath in before letting it out with a thrust of her fingertips towards the hive, shooting out strands of lightning that lanced through every enemy in front of her and connecting to anyone unfortunate enough to be close enough. Energy flowed out of her as she glided forward, shocking everything in front of her until it collapsed to the ground in convulsions. Wave after wave fell before her as bullets attempted to halt her advance.

                Eventually it all became too much for Kleio to keep going. She dropped to a knee as the last of the lightning trickled out of her. She raised her head to assess the damage she had done but was dismayed to see that there were still hive beyond counting.

                Eris was still nowhere to be found.

                Her reserves were running dry and it was getting harder and harder for Ada to regenerate her shields from strain. Hive were closing in on her from every direction and the openness of the room made cover impossible. _Was this her end?_

                At that moment, a curtain of darkness erupted from the middle of the room that looked like an inflated hive summoning portal. It began as a thin line that expanded larger and larger still with barely any sign of stopping. As it grew bigger, any hive it touched were instantly annihilated. All the while, a dreadful scream could be heard from what felt the other side of the portal that shook Kleio to her core. It was nearing Kleio as it rapidly encroached on her position until something halted its advance. An explosion of purple light came from the source of the creeping void that made the portal shrink back into itself.

                At what remained of the altar, Eris stood looking haggard but triumphant. Her body resembled volcanic earth about to erupt, glowing bright purple from all the light she absorbed into herself.

                “Your god does not join you today!” Eris shouted uncharacteristically angry into the air. Every hive that was left in the room turned towards her, raising their weapons.

                Kleio’s eyes went wide in horror. “ERIS! NOOO!”

                She could do nothing as every enemy unleashed a hail of bullets and energy at her. Eris’ body was shredded to ribbons. Out of every hole and laceration came a beam of void light in place of blood. Eris dropped to her knees with her head slumped down and arms dangling in front of her, unmoving as silence spread across the room. The hive looking on with rage at their plans being ruined and Kleio with her heart being broken. Ada floated silently out of Kleio’s armor to look at the atrocity that just befell them.

                Kleio took a few short breaths in before howling at the top of her lungs and charging towards her fallen friend, firing wildly at everything in front of her but she couldn’t get far. Eris’ body convulsed just before void light burst out of her with a shockwave that knocked every person town including Kleio. She hit the ground with a painful groan sliding until she hit a piece of debris that stopped her. She managed to look up in time to see all the light gathering outside of Eris’ body where the previous portal was attempted to be forced open. Like a burnt out candle being reignited from the smoke, the portal from before opened back up with such speed that all Kleio could do to react was to grab onto Ada and clutch her as tightly to her chest as she could. A deafening scream followed the portal out until it engulfed Kleio and Ada, bathing them in a darkness so heavy that it pulled the consciousness from her.

 


	7. Dream 1

_Somewhere…_

_Eyes opened to darkness. It felt so strange, like it wasn’t their own._

Where am I? Is anyone there?

Hello? Can you hear me?

_A mixture of light and dark met in the distance. Both felt compelled to follow._

I can hear you.

I can see you.

_They could only see specs, like distant stars._

Who are you?

Skythix.

_Their words kept short, too weak to speak more but eerily comforted._

Kleio-9

Odd name.

_A force was yanking them closer but something made them feel more distant. What was this feeling?_

I have to go.

Will I see you again?

_Darkness enveloped them._

 


	8. Meet Me on the Other Side Chapter 7

Chapter 7

                A verdant plain stretched out for miles with mountains that reached up to the highest point in the sky. Small animals fluttered and scampered about through brightly colored flowers and tall grass across the lavish field.

                However, the perfect sunny afternoon was ruined by a dark fog that materialized from nothingness. It crackled with energy and fluctuated between different colors before pulsating bright light. All life in the area that was capable scattered while the rest faced death as the vitality was drained out of it, leaving gray husks in its wake. Every pulse of light dropped earth, rubble, and even bodies to the once beautiful ground. Most of it was charred beyond all recognition like it had gone through a planet’s atmosphere to get through the portal but a few things were still recognizable.

                A second portal similar to the first opened near the base of the mountain, dumping out Kleio-9 with Ada still in her clutches as well as hive from the room she came from, some whole while some were only in bits and pieces. She hit the ground with a pained groan, stirring what little consciousness she had into renewed existence. She let out a small whimper, rolling onto her back to try and minimalize the aches running through her body. The same portal that spit her out retracted into a dark ball hovering in the air. It finally hit her that she was looking up at a blue sky and not the interior to that wretched hive ritual room she was previously in. The dark portal on the peripheral of her vision caused her enough alarm to start crawling backwards away with one hand. Recovering from the small heart attack, she looked around herself to see the dead hive that all had the same blackened scorch marks. Her own armor was slightly singed but somehow she wasn’t injured by it. She took her helmet off so she could see her companion.

                “Ada? Ada, are you okay?” Kleio turned over her ghost in her hand to see her eye.

                Ada’s eye flickered to life before looking around and stopping at her guardian. “Y-yeah. I’m okay. What just happened?”

                “I… I’m not really sure.” Kleio responded, looking around herself at the new landscape. “It’s like we got teleported to… Is this Earth?”

Ada buzzed with activity as she examined their surroundings. “Signal to the tower is close from here. I’d definitely say Earth.”

Kleio looked around completely confused until she found the other portal a mile away from where they were. She also checked herself for her weapons but couldn’t find anything. “Wait, there’s another one down there!” Kleio struggled to stand up from her aching body along with Ada floating next to her. “Come on, maybe Eris is down there!”

                “Kleio…” Ada said despondently. “You saw what happened to her.”

                The exo ignored her as she began to traverse down the hill and onto the plain.

                “Give me my sparrow.” Kleio called out.

                Ada looked like she was exerting herself but ultimately came up with nothing. “Something’s wrong. I can’t seem to create it.”

                Kleio just groaned and hopped into a sprint towards the portal.

                After a few minutes, they arrive at the dark globe that used to be the portal while Kleio skidded to a halt to search for Eris. Except none of these were hive. In fact, none of these looked like anything she had ever seen. They were almost completely blackened except for some blue circuitry that showed through. Eris was nowhere to found, making Kleio sigh with frustration. The rest of the bodies looked like awful bloated versions of humans sans for one. It was thinner and taller than all the others but didn’t look human at all. Its armor was charred but it had three-fingered hands and feet. Kleio stepped towards it hesitantly and gave it a small tap with her boot. When it didn’t respond, she knelt down and turned its head towards her to find a gaping hole in the faceplate of its helmet. She could see what looked like a closed eye but other than that, she didn’t have anything to go by.

                “Ada, can you scan this thing?” Kleio asked, holding her ghost out to the figure. Ada gladly obliged, inspecting the body. _Did they just find new alien species? Ikora’s gonna have a fit._ Kleio thought to herself.

After a few seconds of anticipation, Ada looked up at Kleio and shook back and forth. “Sorry Kleio, I have no idea what this is. No records indicate anything in the vanguard’s libraries about… whatever this is.”

Kleio looked worried at their new findings.

“But it’s definitely alive.”

This got Kleio’s attention. Her eyes opened wide as she knelt back down to try and inspect the being personally. It looked like it suffered a lot of damage, whatever fight it got into. It was definitely some kind of warrior if the sizable armor was anything to go off of.

“Maybe it’s a species that the traveler uplifted some time ago?” Ada offered a guess.

“I don’t think so…” Kleio said, turning over parts that would move under deft finger strokes. “The technology looks… much more advanced. Although I suppose that only furthers the whole ‘alien’ hypothesis.” Her fingers found a blue fluid that had the consistency of blood which made her worry even more.

“Whatever this thing is, it’s hurt. Probably really badly.” She might not know this alien’s physiology but she was pretty sure arms weren’t supposed to bend like that. Kleio continued to try and search for something on its armor to see if there was anything she could do, as fruitless as it seemed to be. “Ada, can you contact the tower?”

“I’ll try,” Ada floated a few feet away to attempt communication.

                Kleio attempted to reach her fingers underneath the chin of the figure’s helmet to see if she could find some kind of release hatch for it. She tapped what felt like a button that made a grinding sound inside of the helmet. _I don’t think it’s supposed to make that sound._

                The figure’s hand suddenly twitched with the rest of the body wriggling minutely in some effort of life in reaction to the helmet being released. Kleio gasped loudly, pulling her hands away with a fright.

                “Ada! She’s waking up!”

                The ghost fluttered over in shock. “That’s crazy! When I scanned her, I barely felt a pulse. If she’s waking up it at least means she’s a fighter.” Ada attempted to scan again, what little actual info it would give her. “I called Holliday and she’s flying a ship over to us since we left ours on Titan.”

                The green eye behind the mask searched for something as it opened but quickly stopped on Kleio’s face who noticed immediately. It was filled with a fire that was struggling to stay lit.

                “Hey, hey in there.” Kleio cooed, placing a gentle hand on the person’s shoulder. “You’re gonna be okay. Try not to move too much, alright?”

                The figure’s three-fingered hand raised gingerly, grasping at the air which Kleio gripped with both of her hands. “I got you. Save your strength, we’ll have you out of here soon.” The armor was cool and the grip was surprisingly strong for someone so frail. _Who did this to you?_

                “I don’t know why you’re being so nice to it.” Questioned Ada. “I mean, it’s surrounded by… weird corpses that are filled with some kind of electronics.”

                Kleio frowned. “And we were just surrounded by creepy chitinous hive creatures. I’ll give them the benefit of the doubt.”

                The figure turned its head more towards Kleio and spoke something that Kleio didn’t understand.

                “Ada, I think she just spoke.” She marveled, beckoning Ada over to listen to her. “It said something and… I swear it almost sounded female but really raspy.”

                “Well, _she’s_ probably severely hurt. Don’t force her at all.” Ada chided.

                Kleio nodded slowly and offered a small smile to the alien. “Try not to talk. You need to save your strength.” _Not like she could probably understand her at all either._

                Holliday’s ship appeared in the distance, rapidly approaching their position. Before it even touched down, Amanda herself leaped from the door and landed next to Kleio. She let out a sharp whistle, inspecting the assorted objections and the ground as well as, stuffing her hands in her jacket pocket.

                “Amanda! What are you doing here?” Kleio exclaimed, watching Amanda’s curious gaze wander around.

                “Got word from your ghost you needed transport; middle of nowhere no doubt. I needed the exercise.” Amanda’s smirk quickly divulged into concern on seeing the things around her. “Uhh… What is all this exactly?”

                “We…” Kleio paused, unsure of how to explain everything that just happened to her.

                Amanda then caught Kleio holding onto the figure’s hand. “Wait, is that thing alive? What the hell is it?”

                “As far as I can tell, yes but we’re not sure what it is yet,” Ada interjected. “But we do know that it’s injured and needs medical attention.”

                Amanda leered at all three people in confusion. “You’re not going ask me to put that in my ship are you?” She said incredulously while pointing at the wounded warrior.

                “Please, yes!” Kleio exclaimed.

                “There is no way I’m bringing some new, injured alien back to the tower. What if it’s carrying some kind of disease that kills everyone in the tower? What if it mutates and kills everyone anyway?”

                Kleio gave Amanda a bored look. “Holliday, look, it’s wearing some kind of advanced armor. It’s gotta be from some civilization.”

                “Yeah, so are the cabal.” She retorted with a scowl.

                “And we wouldn’t exactly want this new alien civilization to think we just abandoned one of their own when they needed it most, right?”

                This time it was Amanda’s turn to give Kleio a sour look but she ultimately threw her hands in the air in resignation. “Fine! But you’re going to be the one to explain to the Vanguard what’s going on. I’m just doing my job.”

                “Trust me, so were we. Help me get them into the ship.” Kleio begged, reaching under the figures arm pits to attempt to pick them up while Amanda assisted at the legs.

                “You gonna tell me what happened here exactly?” Amanda asked.

                “It’s a long story. I think it’s best everyone hears it at once but I’ll give you few tidbits on the way over.”

                After the pair got the alien onto the floor of the ship, Kleio knelt down next to her to keep her company. She realized that the alien hadn’t taken her eyes off of the exo either. There was some strange familiarity that tickled the back of Kleio’s mind but she mostly shook it off as just her imagination.

                “Hang on, I’ll get us there quick.” Amanda announced from the cockpit as the ship rose quickly and shot up into the sky.

 


	9. Meet Me on the Other Side Chapter 8

Chapter 8

                _What in the spirit’s name is that?_ Skythix awoke with awful, throbbing pains all through her body to some kind of… machine looking down at her. The sky was also a bright blue and not at all like the horrible hellscape she was looking at a moment ago. There was a second voice coming from outside her vision but she couldn’t understand the words being said. However, the words sounded vaguely familiar to her. It was more the sounds of the language that she recognized, imagining them coming out of a human’s mouth of all people. If it was one of the galactic languages, her translator should be interpreting it. Perhaps it was a new dialect or her equipment had become damaged?

“W-where am I?” She managed to say so softly she wasn’t even sure if the words came out. The figure looming over her placed a hand on her shoulder but she had no idea what was said. The robot looked way more advanced than anything she’d seen before, showing expressions that made it look so alive. Eventually a ship landed near her and another voice could be heard but before she could strain her neck to look, a wave of nausea washed over her and she lost consciousness. She continued to wake up intermittently, feeling the bump of the ship flying as well as the machine poking and prodding where ever it pleased. _I swear if I could even lift my arm…_ The machine above her was speaking to someone else, probably the pilot of the ship but it never left her side. It occasionally looked down at her with a concerned look and a placating smile. At least, that’s how she was interpreting it as. The loss of consciousness along with all the other pains and aches, she was most likely in shock from blood loss or trauma, she had no idea. The HUD on her helmet was long broken when the face mask got shattered so she couldn’t see what her suit’s vitals were reporting. She wanted nothing more than to shout at the robot at the top of her lungs.

                “Bag…” Skythix said meekly, attempting to move her good arm to her hip.

                The robot looked down in time to see Skythix attempting to move. It was speaking to her but she couldn’t understand a damn word coming out of its mouth. Skythix reached her good arm to the small of her back and tapped the pouch that rested there twice. This must have finally gotten the robot’s attention because it hunched down to look where she hit and its bright red eyes lit up even more. It reached down and, after a few moments of searching, finally unclipped the bag but wasn’t able to open it until she moved to let her get to it. Clenching her entire body, Skythix managed to roll slightly onto her right side so the robot could get access to her field bag. It felt like the robot was pulling everything out that was inside. She supposed the kitchen sink method might actually work for once considering her condition. She was only able to keep her body like that for a few seconds before she collapsed onto her back with a yelp. _Augh, yeah, ribs are definitely broken after that brute hit me._

                The robot laid out everything that was in her pack next to her. She turned her head enough to see, even though she already knew everything that was there. After all, she had to pack her field pouch every time she went out on missions. It consisted of bio-restricting bandages, an adrenaline shot, a tube of medi-gel, a sewing kit for medical stitches as well as a medical stapler for a similar purpose, a fusing solution for broken skin plates, a sedative syringe for severe trauma, and one thermal clip; just in case.

                The machine picked up everything one by one and held it up to Skythix’s vision with a hopeful but quizzical look. Skythix shook her head minutely at everything until it held up the sedative syringe. That baby was used for emergencies only but she’d classify this as one of those times. It knocked out whoever you gave it to for about a day and a half, putting their body into a sort of hyper sleep that allowed their body’s natural healing processes to kick into high gear while they were out. It was supposed to only be used when medical teams were too far away but she had no idea where she was going to be taken to so this was the best option in her head. She had a lot of luck riding on Aryus’ quick medi-gel work to close up any especially terrible wounds as well as her suit performing any kind of maintenance that it could but with the extensive damage she suffered, she wasn’t ready to take chances.

                Skythix nodded her head at the syringe, making the android beam delightfully. It attempted to read it but looked hopelessly confused until it accidentally released the cap from the syringe, flinging the plastic cap away to reveal the short needle and the pressure plunger. It then looked frantically all over her body, presumably to find an injection site but she was covered head to toe in armor. Skythix groaned when she realized the robot’s predicament and lifted her arm up weakly to her waist where the release was for her thigh armor. It took her a few tries while to robot looked on with dread but she finally managed to release the armor with a loud click. The machine took the initiative and removed the armored plate, dropping it next to her prone body. Skythix’s under suit was all that was in the way of her skin but something must have frustrated the robot. It pouted before reaching into Skythix’s leg holster and removing her own knife. _Holy shit it’s going to kill me!_ But with deft hands, it pinched the cloth up and used the knife with surgical precision to open a hole. Skythix couldn’t see what it was doing but there was no shooting pain in her leg yet so perhaps it knew what it was doing. It didn’t stop her heart from racing or thinking of all the possibilities about how this could go wrong. She could feel metal fingers gently brushing her leg as it tried to find a spot for the injection. Skythix attempted to lift her hand to pat where to do it but the robot held her hand back down and spoke something again to her. Perhaps it was trying to placate her or maybe she seemed to have already figured it out? It must have because a sudden shooting pain rushed into her leg as a cold liquid exploded through her veins that scared the hell out of her but all of that suddenly didn’t matter as it became impossible to keep her eyes open anymore as the drugs overtook her.

                Just before losing consciousness, she swore she could feel something touching the side of her helmet followed by words that she couldn’t understand but felt like honey to her ears. Her last thoughts were of Aryus and Varima, where ever they were. _Spirits protect us._


	10. Meet Me on the Other Side Chapter 9

Chapter 9

                Kleio-9 was sitting on a chair with her eyes closed and her hands on her thighs, meditating. She awaited Ikora’s arrival in the vanguard leader’s library that was lined completely in book shelves and tables where tomes rested, awaiting an eager mind to flip through them. Ikora kept everything immaculate and plainly decorated, probably as not to distract her from her studies. Kleio changed out of her armor and into a more comfortable robe of a rainbow of colors diagonally striped across the cloth. Since coming back to the tower with the new alien, she’s had a lot of time to contemplate what she had gone through. Eris’ death was a void in her mind and a hole in her heart that she had a tough time getting past but she persevered. She attempted to fill the gaps with good memories they had together before Eris was originally lost to the hive; small strikes together, a shared meal, even just spending a night looking up at the stars in peace. It was a struggle to keep the memories from slipping away but her calm meditation allowed them to remain vivid. It was a shame it had only been less than an hour since she came back, it felt like forever. It was a shame that Ada didn’t share the same skill in meditation as the poor ghost floated back and forth in anticipation.

                Her concentration was broken upon hearing the door of the room clicking open and the sound of multiple footsteps coming into the room. Kleio opened her eyes and stood up at attention immediately at the sight of all three vanguard leaders entering the room, Ikora, Zavala, and Cayde-6 bringing up the rear. All of them looked as stoic and serious as Kleio had ever seen them. Even the ever lighthearted Cayde looked painfully serious.

                “Thank you for waiting Kleio,” Ikora said with a small bow of her head. “What was initially supposed to only be a report for me has turned into a much bigger problem so Zavala and Cayde will be joining us for your debriefing.”

                “Before we begin, Ikora, you can vouch for the authenticity of this guardian’s words I assume?” Zavala asked with hesitation.

                Ikora didn’t skip a beat in her response. “Absolutely. Kleio-9 has been with me for a very long time through many of her resets. I trust her explicitly.”

                “Good because what I assume she’s about to tell us is going to sound completely insane.” Cayde finally spoke up, crossing his arms into a relaxed stance.

                Ada looked at Kleio in concern but the exo simply nodded her head at her ghost for reassurance. “Well, it all started with a call from Sloan asking us to come to Titan.” Kleio proceeded to detail her every step through the New Pacific Arcology including areas already patrolled as well as her adventure into the darkness. She included everything about the ritual as well as discovering Eris Morn and assisting her in interrupting the ritual, even at the possible cost of her life. She admitted that her body was never found but was able to describe her fate in graphic detail. Her concentration wavered only at that mention of her friend’s body going rigid. She even mentioned how Eris’ body seemed to react to the portal opening, almost as if she had turned herself into a stopper and a conduit for the rift at the same time.

                “And that’s how I ended up back here on Earth. Ada and I found the alien near a similar portal that we fell out of but I couldn’t even begin to explain to you how it actually happened.” Kleio finished. All three leaders stood frozen in pensive thought. Ikora was the first to speak up.

                “Very interesting adventure you’ve had, Kleio. It pains me to hear of what happened to Eris but without a body to confirm it… Well, our mutual friend has come back from worse.”

                “I’ve already dispatched teams to where Ms. Holliday first recovered you.” Zavala spoke in his usual commanding tone but Kleio could sense the unease in his voice. “The hive ritual we might have been able to overlook with a bit more careful attention on the hive on Titan but this…” He motioned his hand to the door where they came from. “Your discovery spells trouble for us, guardian.”

                “Hey, give the gal a break, big guy.” Cayde butted in. “She just potentially lost her… weird friend and recovered from what sounded like a truly epic battle.” Cayde’s words sounded genuine enough, if a little mishandled.

                “I wasn’t blaming her for what happened.” Zavala growled softly at the exo next to him. “But since she was at the forefront of this, she needs to know how big of an issue this can possibly be. The last few alien races to discover us weren’t exactly friendly and I have no intention of believing this one is as well.”

                “Sir, if I may.” Kleio finally spoke up, causing all three heads to turn towards her. “I don’t… I don’t believe that alien to be evil. I don’t know why but I just had a good feeling about her.”

                “Her?” Ikora asked quizzically.

                “Well, it sounded vaguely feminine…” Kleio admitted under her breath.

                “Enough.” Zavala interrupted them all. “We have a lot of preparations to make and a lot of research to conduct on the other bodies that were found at the portal’s exit.”

                For some reason his words clicked something in Kleio’s head. “Or entrance.”

                All went silent and slowly turned to look at her again. Kleio looked baffled but took their stillness as her to continue. “I mean, we know those things probably came out of the portal but who’s to say it doesn’t work both ways?”

                Zavala looked slightly panicked, his eyes searching around for an answer to a question in his head. “I have reports to file and people to contact. If you’ll excuse me.” The titan stated and made his way out of the room swiftly.

                “I should probably get a group of hunters to go out and search for more of these anomalies. Wouldn’t want anything else to sneak up on us. Keep in touch!” Cayde chimed in before making his own quick exit. Ikora watched her friends leave calmly before looking back to Kleio.

                “And what say you?” She asked the exo.

                “Me?”

                “Certainly. You _were_ the one there when it all began, after all. You must have your own insight you’d be willing to share.”

                Kleio looked down at her feet with furrowed brows as she wracked her brain to think of something she might have missed. “There… was this terrible scream that came from the portal when it initially attempted to consume us all.” Ikora motioned for Kleio to sit down on the chair she was previously on before bringing her own chair over and motioning her to continue. “It felt so unnatural and so cold and dark. I think I _felt_ it more than I heard it, like the reports I read on the fireteam who brought down Nokris and heard the voice of Xol in their heads.” Ikora sat quietly and listened to Kleio talk.

                Ada decided to chime in. “Eris mentioned the ritual being for something even stronger than Oryx.” Kleio nodded in return at her ghost’s words. Ikora seemed to think for a moment before standing up and walked towards one of the bookshelves. “The hive tell stories of three siblings who spread their power throughout space. Oryx was one, Savathûn and Xivu Arath were the others.” Ikora pulled a book from the shelf and thumbed through it with a frown. “We might have killed the most powerful one but that doesn’t mean the others are any less of a threat. I predict they attempted to summon Savathûn again after their first failed attempt on Titan. Words of that name echoed through taken infested lands of Io so I have no doubt in my mind that they would continue to bring back that sister.” Kleio and Ada listened to the story in quiet horror. She had never heard of there being others as strong as Oryx. Ikora perused the book for a few more moments in silence before setting it down on the desk nearest to her.

                “I’ll have to continue research on this another time. Perhaps I will take a visit to Titan myself, I did always prefer applied research.” A hint of a smile escaped her lips. “For now, get some rest. You’ve had a very long day, you deserve it.” Ikora bowed her head slightly to Kleio and Ada before making her own way out of the room. Ikora paused just before leaving and turned to Kleio. “I’ll remind you about keeping hush about your findings today until we say it’s okay. The last thing we need is further anxiety through the ranks.” Her tone was as serious as her words, giving Kleio a slight chill but before she could respond, she was gone.

Kleio stood up from her chair to watch Ikora leave with Ada moving in the way of her vision.

                “I can’t believe we discovered a new alien species!” Ada blurted out.

                “Weren’t you the one worried how they could be dangerous barely two hours ago?” Kleio said with a smirk.

                “Well, yeah, but now that the adrenaline of danger has worn off, it’s exciting!”

                “I’ll never understand how a ghost can have an adrenaline rush.”

                “Says the robot herself.” Ada muttered just as Kleio began to walk out, brushing her friend out of the way gently.

                “I have something similar enough to it.” Kleio took a left out of the room and made her way to the central part of the main tower where other guardians were scurrying about. No one seemed to be as panicked as she expected everyone to be considering the news. Perhaps it hadn’t been disseminated barring a bigger investigation but she knew the news wouldn’t stay quiet. Kleio believed everyone had a right to know but it wasn’t her call to make. After walking through the tower for a bit, Kleio changed directions away from her apartment.

                “Wait, where are we going?” Ada asked. “I thought Ikora told us to get some rest.” Kleio remained quiet as she turned towards the elevator that brought her down the wall of the tower. “Are we looking for something? C’mon! Keep me in the loop!” But Kleio just smiled at the door of the elevator as it went down.

                When the doors opened to heavy foot traffic, Kleio turned not towards homes or shops of any kind but towards the hospital wards. Ada froze for a second after she realized where they were going. “No no no, wait just a second missy. We are _not_ going to see that alien!” Ada barked at Kleio.

                “And why not? I think I have the right to see if the first aid I managed was enough to save their life.”

                “It doesn’t matter! They wanted us to keep it a secret so there’s no way they’ll just let us waltz in!”

                “Waltz in to where?” Came the booming shout of a man from behind Kleio and before she could react, felt two large gauntlets slam down on her shoulders. Kleio winced and turned around quickly to see her friend, Nash dressed in his full red and white crucible gear with a fur collar and a lavish sash around his waist. He was a giant of a man at six foot seven, fitted perfectly for his role as a terrifying force of a striker titan. His helmet was off to reveal his bright blue eyes and red mohawk as well as his strong jaw and cheek bones. His ghost, Thunder floated above him patiently looking calm but bored. Nash was always extravagant and loud. It was an amusing contradiction to his ghost’s demeanor.

                “God, you scared the hell out of me Nash.” Kleio said with a gasped breath.

                “He has that effect on people.” Another woman’s voice came from behind the giant man.

                “Brün! Boda!” Ada shouted happily before wistfully floating over to the awoken, pirouetting in the air with her ghost, Boda, who was giggling in response to seeing her own friend. Brün was dressed in her own hunter crucible gear colored black and gold with a smooth, clean cape. Her fluorescent purple eyes contrasted with her blond hair and light blue skin. She was shorter, closer to Kleio’s height but still missing it by a few inches. Her face had sharp features that gave her an amazing natural beauty. She was a cocky hunter but she earned her right to brag from her skills with all weapons and her abilities as a shadow stalker.

                “W-what are you guys doing here?” Kleio asked, avoiding Nash’s original question.

                “Just got out of a crucible match and was about to head up the tower for some ramen together but we ran into you before we could get there.” Brün answered with a cocky grin. “What about you?”

                Kleio swallowed and looked up at Nash who simply had a big grin on his face. “Ahh, you know, just taking a walk. How’d the match go?”

                “It was stupendous!” Nash shouted out pumping both his fists down. “A truly good battle that I thoroughly enjoyed!”

                “Every game is a good game to him.” Brün said, sticking a thumb towards the titan. “It’s because he has me to keep him pointed in the right direction. A bullet with no barrel, I swear.” She said with a forced sigh.

                “She’s only talking such because we won.” Nash said, jutting a finger into Brün’s shoulder. “You should see the colors her face turn when we lose the lead.” He punctuated the jab with a hearty guffaw. Brün’s face drooped into an annoyed look which only made him laugh harder.

                Kleio kept a grin on her face while her friends bantered, trying to find her exit from the conversation.

                “Why not come eat with us?” Nash asked.

                “Ahh, I shouldn’t. I’ve gotta… get to a place…” Kleio internally cringed at her inability to lie on the spot.

                Both Brün and Nash gave her a quizzical look, clearly not fooling her friends.

                “At the hospital?” Brün asked with a skeptical brow.

                Kleio swallowed before Ada chimed in. “Volunteering! We were going to spend some time there helping out!”

                “Didn’t you guys just get back from a strike?” Brün continued to prod.

                “How did you know about that?” Kleio asked genuinely.

                “We came looking for you for our game!” Nash announced with open arms. “I asked Ikora where you were but Brün told me not to waste her time with such mundane questions.”

                “He didn’t listen.” Brün deadpanned.

                “That’s how!” Nash had a permanent smile affixed to him.

                “Uh, right!” Kleio said, fighting the urge to wring her hands. “So, we gotta get going to do that.”

                “You really oughta take a rest. You must be exhausted after a long strike and trying your hardest to lie.” Brün remarked smugly.

                Kleio finally let out a sigh. “Look, I really have to go do something. I promise I’ll tell you guys all about it later. Please?”

                Brün didn’t look convinced but Nash nodded fiercely. “Of course! Tell us all about your adventure later! Let’s go, Brün!” Nash announced, forcefully pushing Brün away and towards the elevator.

                “Hey! Watch the cape!”

                Kleio looked at Ada with a tired look. “Thanks for covering for me.”

                “Not that it looked like it worked.” Ada admitted as they both turned to start heading towards the hospital. “I still can’t believe you want to see this alien so badly.”

                “Why don’t you?” Kleio asked incredulously. “This is something that could potentially change everything and we got front row seats to it.”

                “If they’ll even let us see it.”

                “I’m sure they’ll let the rescuer come to see. Besides, I’m concerned for them. So many wounds… So much trauma… I can’t help but feel bad.”

                Ada shook her shell. “You’re such a worrywart.”

                Kleio chuckled. “Yeah, I suppose I am.”

 


	11. Meet Me on the Other Side Chapter 10

Chapter 10

                Flashes of consciousness were eliminated as swiftly as they came up in Skythix’s mind. Colors of blue and white clothed humanoids surrounding her in a completely white room. Her attempts to move her limbs were forced back down to the table she was laid on but it didn’t matter considering her inability to stay awake. Everything was black for a while, like she was sitting in limbo waiting between dreams and reality. Faces of her comrades faded in and out of her vision, being unable to cry out or reach out physically towards them. Suddenly her body felt like it was being pulled down through the void, falling towards an invisible point that made her stomach lurch.

                Her body twitched and her eyes opened slowly to an unknown room. The lights in the ceiling above her made her blink a few times to adjust to the light but it was a headache that was making her shut her eyes the most. Attempting to orientate herself, she looked around at her surroundings to figure out where she was. Her body was devoid of her armor, now being covered by some kind of long cloth-like robe with an IV coming out of her arm and a soft cast on her other arm. Flanking her were machines making all sorts of sounds, some with cables reaching out to attach themselves to her body. To her left, a humanoid was sitting in a chair which Skythix needed to squint to focus on. She recognized it as the robot that saved her and it appeared to be asleep. At least, it wasn’t moving at all and it eyes appeared to be shut, she didn’t think a robot needed to sleep. She reached over to her other arm with her good one and ran it along the length of the cast. It didn’t feel like anything she had before from a broken limb but she also had no idea where she was either. She could feel a similar material on the crest of her head. _Damn, how much did she break?_

                She attempted to sit up but pain flared in her chest, making her wince and fall back to the bed, gripping her chest. At the same time, she could feel bandages across her chest, probably to stop her from being more of an idiot and hurting her ribs further. She took a few breaths and looked around the room more. It was larger than most field hospitals that she’d seen before, lacked windows to the outside but had a wide mirror that she assumed was a one-way mirror, and machines all around that gave her chills just looking at.

                Whatever this place was, she knew she couldn’t stay here but without her armor or weapons, she wasn’t going to be of much use to herself if she got out. She might have to make an exception this time. The mech might be a problem for her though. It looked far more advanced than anything she’d ever seen in the military, like it was thinking on its own when she first encountered it. _Does no one ever learn from creating artificial life?_

                This time, she sat up much slower and as quietly as she possibly could as to not rouse the robot. She turned her wrist up to check her omni-tool that was imbedded there, wondering if she could get information on where she was. However, no data was coming to her. _Maybe there was something interfering with the signal in here?_ She couldn’t send out an S.O.S. either, no viable channels that they were using during their assault were working. She cursed under her breath and decided that, wherever she was, she needed to get out of here. Her ribs might ache but if she could stomach walking out of here then she’d do it. A glint of thought about her squad made her suddenly panic that she had no idea what happened to them. _Alright, first, find armor and regroup with them._ Hopefully she could rely on her biotics until she found a proper weapon. She did a double take between the robot and the mirror on the other side of the room and started getting out of her bed carefully.

                Just as she began to unhook some of the cables from the machines, they began to beep loudly, likely from losing their connection to her body. This instantly roused the robot, red eyes shooting open and turning towards her. Their eyes locked, both freezing in place waiting for the other to make a move. The robot began to raise her hands extremely slowly, palms facing her.

                “I mean you no harm.” It said to her. Its voice and expression seemed to be explicitly concerned and terrified. Just as it finished speaking, a small floating robot came out from behind it and stared directly at Skythix.

                “Where am I?” Skythix commanded her, attempting to free herself from more of the diagnostic machines.

                The robot looked at her quizzically, glancing at Skythix’s hands as she pulled the last node from her body.

                “Who made you? Are you Cerberus?” Skythix nearly shouted at the robot.

                The flying robot chimed in this time. “We don’t understand you. Please stop messing with those, they’re trying to help.”

                “What do you mean you don’t understand me?” Skythix asked dumbfounded. “Did your translators get destroyed?”

                “Just… Hang on, you’re really injured. You need to stay and rest.” The robot spoke up again but Skythix was ignoring it and pulled the IV out of her arm with a small wince. The mech appeared to be growing agitated.

                “What do we do, Ada? I don’t think she understands what I’m saying and the guards are gonna come rushing in soon.”

                Skythix stopped again at the mention of guards but with a much more hateful glare. That just solidified that she was not in a normal hospital if she was being put under guard. The robot clearly picked up on her reaction since it did a double take from herself to the door. Apparently soon meant immediately as the door to the room opened up with two humans in military garb holding rifles stormed in with their guns up.

                “Don’t move!” The men shouted. Skythix took the initiative and lunged for the mech to use as a potential bullet shield, grabbing it by the robe and yanking up and out of the seat. Clearly not expecting it, Skythix was able to pull it up with only one arm, causing it to yelp in surprise as Skythix wrapped her good arm around its neck. The small floating robot started knocking itself against her. “Let her go you monster!” But Skythix just ignored its minor attempts at attacking her.

                _Her?_ Skythix thought to herself. _Next thing you’re going to tell me is it has a name and a family_. The robot put her hands to Skythix’s arm instinctively like it were trying to gasp for air. Skythix didn’t have time to think any more about it as the soldiers started walking towards her.

                “I swear I’ll kill her!” Skythix shouted at the soldiers but they didn’t react at all to her words. _What the fuck? Does no one have translators here?_ She growled and started pressing her talons into the neck of the robot which caused it to yell out.

                “Stop! Don’t shoot!” It shouted through a gasp of air. “Don’t hurt her!” The soldiers hesitated in their approach but ultimately didn’t put their weapons down. Skythix decided to test her leverage and started forcing the robot to walk forward with her. It yielded success when the military men started backing away slowly to the door that they came from. Any time that one tried to fight her advance, Skythix bellowed a growl and gripped the robot tighter, causing it to plead further. Eventually, the standoff lead into the hallway, bright fluorescent lights nearly blinded her as she crossed the threshold of the door. It was lined with many other closed doors with a set of stairs that at the end which lead up to a floor that she could not see.

                “Please don’t do anything crazy.” The robot said, turning its head minutely to try and look at her.

                “Face forward.” Skythix seethed in return. Whether it understood her or not, it faced forward again at the guards.

                “Get Ikora down here!” The floating robot yelled out to the guards as one reached down to a radio.

                This was getting more out of hand than she thought she could potentially handle and the more people that showed up only lowered her odds of getting out unscathed. The other doors of the hallway opened with various heads popping out to check on the commotion. Skythix glanced at the only one she could see in her peripheral vision to see a human woman looking at her in complete horror, not just surprise like Skythix was expecting.

                The turian started walking backwards to the stairs with the robot firmly in her grip, the floating one continuing to hit Skythix in various places.

                “Listen,” The robot in her arm began. “I know you’re scared right now but I don’t want to hurt you.”

                Skythix made a rude noise in return. “You’re in no position to speak.”

                “Can you understand me?” The robot asked.

                “For the spirit’s sake, yes!” Skythix muttered a few curse words and clenched her eyes shut for a few seconds as she attempted to recall her basic language training courses. She was required to take basic language lessons when she became an officer. The humans had so many dialects but English was their primary one. _Think dammit!_

                “Eh, t-tes.” Skythix stuttered. “Yes!” She finally managed in earth englilsh.

                The robot audibly gasped. “You can?!” The floating one finally stopped its assault, blinking and whirring in what seemed like shock.

                Skythix had never been on this end of a hostage situation and was quickly realizing how screwed she was in her position.

                “Yes,” Skythix answered back quietly in earth english. They were just about to hit the stairs as Skythix’s heel hit the first step. She had been so concentrated on the guards in front of her that she nearly tripped. “Help me. Home go.” She cursed internally at her inability to speak any kind of real sentence.

                “Get the restraints! We’re taking it down!” One of the soldier’s shouted to someone next to him as he pulled out a smaller pistol from his side, likely a taser of some kind.

                “Listen to me,” the robot begged again, speaking quietly. “If you want to get out of here un-dissected, you’ll run as fast as you can up those stairs behind you.” Skythix hazarded a glance over her shoulder to look up the steps but just as she did, one of the guards in front of her made a lunge for them. Without thinking, Skythix released the robot and shoved it into the human before making a break up the stairs as much as her injuries would let her. Whether she could trust the mech or not was out of her control now as she was forced to enact its order.

 

* * *

 

                Kleio barreled into the human after being pushed unceremoniously away from her captor, falling to the floor in a heap. Kleio sat herself up on her elbow, rubbing at her neck with a groan where the alien scraped against the metal.

                “After it!” The soldier still standing shouted.

                “No!” Kleio interrupted. The guards looked at her incredulously which made her hesitate at what she just said. “Ah, I meant, I’ll go after her. You guys call for backup.” They hesitated themselves, glancing at each other before ultimately nodding their heads in agreement.

                “I’ll alert the security downstairs to start a lockdown.” The one guard said to his partner. “Get in contact with the tower guard to set up a perimeter outside the hospital. Let the guardian go after the alien.” With a quick nod to each other, they dashed off to their respective duties.

                “I think I just made this a lot more difficult.” Kleio sighed before running up the stairs after the alien.

                “You think? What you’re doing is crazy!” Ada said while following her guardian up the flights.

                “I know.”  The whole thing was insane but something inside her was saying otherwise. Kleio couldn’t even hear the footsteps of the alien anymore. Even in her injured state, the alien managed to climb so quickly. Whoever this person was, they must be incredibly strong or at least extremely determined.

                “We have to catch up to her.” Kleio remarked before sprinting up the steps as fast as she could.

                The pair eventually reached the top level of the hospital to see the door to the roof ajar. Kleio pushed the door open quickly to the rooftop. All around them were other rooftops of similar height that lead to apartment buildings and office complexes. The hospital roof was only slightly taller than most of the surrounding buildings. It was easy to spot the single figure looming over the edge of the roof, peering around likely at its options of escape.

                “I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” Kleio called out, making the alien turn to acknowledge her. The alien started shouting something in its native tongue and even though Kleio couldn’t understand her, it was easy to tell it was angry.

                “I wouldn’t have told you to come up here if I didn’t think I could get you out.” Kleio mentioned while walking towards the alien. It took up a slightly more defensive stance but ultimately didn’t make a move as she approached. Kleio stepped next to the alien to peer over the edge herself. The wind was blowing around both of their clothing with strong gusts.

                “You haven’t even told _me_ of your plan yet.” Ada mentioned as she hovered over the side, looking at both of them. The alien looked at Kleio expectantly with its arms crossing their chest. It was difficult to decipher its facial expressions completely but the body language was certainly similar enough.

                “Well…” Kleio started, looking over at the building to their east. It was the top of a long row of buildings of various commerce and residence but was at least a fifty foot drop from where they were. “How much would you say you weigh?” Kleio asked the alien with a small smile. It tilted its head in clear confusion at the request, stammering as it tried to come up with an answer to a likely stupid question.

                “Sorry but this is gonna be one of those times where you need to trust me again.” Kleio said, holding out her hand to the alien, waiting.

                Both Ada and the alien stared at Kleio with dumbfounded looks before both seemed to reach the same conclusion at the same time.

                “Ohhh no no no. No!” Ada spat out. “How many times are you going to jump to your death today?!”

                “Come on, I didn’t get hurt at all back on Titan.” Kleio answered, still holding out her hand to the alien. It seemed to look back over the ledge and then all around as it likely contemplated its real options. It grimaced and Kleio could have sworn she heard it growl but eventually took her hand with the one good one it had.

                Kleio looked bemused at the three-fingered hand that clasped her own at the sheer absurdity of it all. She shook her head before wrapping the arm around her neck and grabbing the alien’s thin waist. It squirmed in her grip as they approached the edge. It started yelling something and trying to pull away from her as they got to the edge of the drop.

                “I can get us out of here! I just need you to hold on tight!” Kleio called out over the wind. However, the alien kicked out Kleio’s leg before she could leap, causing Kleio to lose her grip on the alien and dropping to her knee. Before Kleio could even react properly, the alien leaped off the roof herself.

                “Nooo!” Kleio screamed, scrambling to the edge of the building to see the alien drifting slowly on what looked like some kind of blue energy towards the rooftop where Kleio was going to take them. Ada and Kleio both looked at each other in surprise.

                “What kind of power is that?!” Ada observed.

                “Hey! _I’m_ supposed to be rescuing _you_!” Kleio hollered before leaping off the building to follow the alien across the rooftops.


End file.
